Details

Updated kdenetwork packages to correct a security flaw in Kopete are now
available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.

This update has been rated as having critical security impact by the Red
Hat Security Response Team.

The kdenetwork package contains networking applications for the K Desktop
Environment. Kopete is a KDE instant messenger which supports a number of
protocols including ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, Jabber, and Gadu-Gadu.

Multiple integer overflow flaws were found in the way Kopete processes
Gadu-Gadu messages. A remote attacker could send a specially crafted
Gadu-Gadu message which would cause Kopete to crash or possibly execute
arbitrary code. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project
assigned the name CAN-2005-1852 to this issue.

In order to be affected by this issue, a user would need to have registered
with Gadu-Gadu and be signed in to the Gadu-Gadu server in order to receive
a malicious message. In addition, Red Hat believes that the Exec-shield
technology (enabled by default in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4) would block
attempts to remotely exploit this vulnerability.

Note that this issue does not affect Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 or 3.

Users of Kopete should update to these packages which contain a
patch to correct this issue.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via Red Hat Network. To use Red Hat Network,
launch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command:

up2date

This will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate
RPMs being upgraded on your system.